I HOLD THIS TRUTH TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT A DEBT CRISIS CANNOT BE RESOLVED WITH MORE DEBT

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Welcome And Good Luck

Dear President Obama,

Welcome and good luck - success being the result of placing yourself in a position of getting lucky.

No other US President has ever been inaugurated with such high hopes from the entire world riding on his shoulders. It's an incredible weight, to be sure, but it is also a tremendous honour and a huge opportunity.

This is your historical moment, Mr. President; to re-establish the image of America as a force for good and to re-define its role as an agent for change. Change not only for Americans but also for the billions on this world that may not necessarily share in the wealth of our nation but are affected daily by its reach, for better or worse.

40 comments:

Anonymous
said...

No other President has been inaugurated at such a high cost. $200 mln... sure proves that while he preached responsibility, it's "do as I say, not as I do". If he wasn't the ego-maniac that he really is, it would have been a simple incoming oath, and then straight to work. Instead we get a freakin' coronation. Nice start.

I'm gonna dig deeper into the MIT videos (comment in last post). But, the videos would first have to be complete (in terms of content), and "marketed" in order to make a difference. And that is, unfortunately, against the economic interest of the school. Why pay when you can get the exact same thing for free online?

Besides university level courses aren't targeting the demographic (K-12) that I was speaking about. Videos would have to be age appropriate (and produced MUCH better than a video camera in a lecture). That was the great thing about Bernstein. He could speak about complicated musical concepts, but do so in such a way that children could understand because HE understood the material so well. And put it in context with the orchestra, AND make a musical selection appropriate for his audience.

I glad for your catharsis Damocles. I on the other hand am dreading the propagation of a long lasting double standard. To wit:

Bad bad Don Imus.

Poor misunderstood Rev Wright.

UGH

Heaven forbid our new commander in chief would focus on an enemy WE CAN DEFEAT: brazen, unfathomable bureaucracy that has paralyzed our government and transformed it at all levels into little kingdoms. Each motivated by their own self interest.

You will never get a disagreement from me on personal responsibility. And true to the surreal world we live in, Anon 11:28 and Goldie have valid points as well.

Cottonbloggin, thanks for the video suggestions. As for online education, I too once shared your very hope, but alas, all I have read in this area suggests it is as always "complex".

Jean Piaget once coined the term "the American question" for the question that he claimed only American audiences ever asked: "how do we speed up the developmental process"?

Variations of "The American Question" (and improving educational productivity definitely falls into "The American question") have seen tremendous research funding over the years. TV education (the forerunner of today's online education) research started almost the day the TV was invented and today institutions like The University of Phoenix fund research for obvious reasons.

If memory serves me correctly (and I will add I did not read the data with the "non-linear" eye I have since developed), video education has been a failure in the under 18-19 year old crowd of primary education (at least as a primary tool of learning) and that its effectiveness does not appear to be clear until around age 22. Of course the median is not the mean.

One fascinating area in education (though may be MORE EXPENSIVE than our current system) is the remarkable achievements home schooled children have made (how they avoid killing their children is beyond me??).

Kids enrolled in private schools already show a rather marked standardized testing gap with their public school peers upon entry to kindergarden. Follow the kids thru 12th grade and the standardized test gap remains constant, questioning the value of a private education in the first place. Home schoolers on the other hand, start at a higher level than public school but below private school at Kindergarden. But their 'gap' widens every year they are in home schooling and actually beats private school kids by 11th grade.

And Hell, this issue is not that the material is not already there, as it clearly is, the question you have to ask yourself is "what would ned to happen in order for me to hire someone who learned everything they know from the MIT online program"?

What would need to also be on a candidates resume to convince (say) Goldman Sachs they want to hire someone with ONLY online credentials (even at a lower salary) than the Harvard grad?

The most effective education happens when the student desires the knowledge. Being forced to learn something that doesn't interest you is a burden. One would hope that everyone is born insatiably curious in everything important (subjective, I know), but for various reasons the curiosity/desire fluctuates. I'm all for public education forcing certain knowledge on the little buggers whether they want it or not, but less critical knowledge can wait until they seek it. Desire for cash should jump start their seeking.

I imagine the home school kids self-seek the knowledge because 1)they're bored since there aren't any non-relatives to talk with, and 2)the faster they graduate, the faster they can stopped being annoyed by their parents.

"Jean Piaget once coined the term "the American question" for the question that he claimed only American audiences ever asked: "how do we speed up the developmental process"?"

Had Jean Piaget lived to read the late Neil Postman's The Disappearance of Childhood" he would have had his answer.

Um, Hell, care to comment on the idea that a cramdown of debt to equity is the only way to resolve the present mega crisis in the banking sector? My view is that while it probably represents an improvement over the present bailout/looting procedures, it is, ultimately, not a solution.

Though a cousin of my wife home schooled for about 10 years. Finally giving up as it simply became "too much", I remember asking her questions about it and told me entire day's lesson plans could often be completed in under 2 hours, 1:1 being SO MUCH more efficient than 25-35:1 (but a whole lot more expensive).

And I have noticed there is a lot of 'class management', shuffling around, babysitting, etc... in schools that home schooling might reduce (though how the parents do it without killing their kids I will never know).

Edwardo, isn't our modern concept of childhood a relatively recent historical creation? I thought it came about the same time our modern concept of Christmas developed- late Victorian era?

I do hope it lasts but it seems unlikely as it too is a relatively consumeristic concept. If you can convince everyone to work and not consume, I would agree that childhood is probably safe. But if everyone keeps looking for someone else to work for them and or pick up the tab for their consumption, I would be worried. There are a lot of people in this world (America especially) with an almost magic view of money.

This president is all talk, no action. So far, he voted for the banker's bailout bill, requested release of second 350B, even though we have no accountability of first half, and so on and on. Who paid for his inauguration? Check and you will find CEOs of bailed out banks to be the biggest sponsors. That says enough.

Obama's speech(es) may be nothing more than rhetoric, BUT his words have the ability to inspire the actions of others, therefore his words ARE a form of action. And a very productive form at that.

What do your words do greenie? They inspire hopelessness.

I stick to my assumption that it's the VALUE systems which need to be changed. It is that which will bring about the necessary change in "the content of (our) character". And it is this, our character, which is the major change agent for any and all social systems (like politics or economics).

I believe (though I'm nothing more than a flighty English teacher traveling the world) that education is the best way to change those VALUE systems.

So. Back to education for a moment. Dink said:

"The most effective education happens when the student desires the knowledge."

I couldn't agree more. So. Why is (institutional) school system so focused on rote learning? I personally believe that the entire system should be inverted (I'll appeal to Thai with my example) and say that the first mathematics that should be taught in K-12 is Chaos theory and specifically the Mandelbrot set.

Use the "pretty picture" to lure them in unsuspecting like. Show them how you can zoom in infinitely to find the original pattern. DON"T explain any concepts. Let them play. Their own innate curiosity will propel them to explore the form(s) and will give them an experiential / intuitive understanding of Fractal without "teaching" them anything.

Then, show them where the limits of OUR knowledge are. Explain to them that there are all sorts of secret mathematics hidden in the form. that some of them are understood (you can use the mandelbrot form itself as an "abacus" since its form allows for the understanding of all the basic mathematical functions including fractions, square roots and powers) and that some forms are not understood. (but that the potential to understand them exists)

This is manipulative indoctrination of course. But what education isn't? At least in this case the "teacher" has created a neurological pattern which appreciates complexity over simplicity (necessary in our Brave New World), and has appealed to their "sail the seven seas" adventurism, since it offers the possibility of finding a "new world" (of thought) thru hard work and perseverence.

*sigh*

Hell, is it possible for me to make an addendum to the first law of Thermodynamics?

"Edwardo, isn't our modern concept of childhood a relatively recent historical creation? I thought it came about the same time our modern concept of Christmas developed- late Victorian era?"

I think our entire conception of what it is to be human is relatively new. Certainly our awareness of the complexity inherent in human functioning is, as per the work of folks like Shakespeare and Montesquieu, and later papa Freud, who revered Shakespeare, of recent vintage.

Postman's point about the disappearance of childhood was that our culture, in essence, suppressed the biological fact of childhood.

"I always feel there are a lot of people who don't really believe in the conservation of energy"

I never said anything about touching the principal of the conservation of energy. So... chew on this and tell me if I do or don't understand thermodynamics...

There is an assumption inherent within the laws of Thermodynamics which doesn't seem to have been made explicit. i would like to make it explicit. I would like to make the following addendum:

---in any process, the change in energy is non-instantaneous---

WHY do I want to make the addendum? Because it serves to define TIME--- not the system of measure based on the second, but that which is BEING measured. Which would mean that TIME is the process of non-instantaneous change in energy from one form to another.

I feel like this is provable in any number of ways. Lets start with something easy, like relativity. (sorry, that's me being aggressive towards Thai... I'm actually an architecture school failure who is mathematically illiterate and should probably keep my mouth shut in any and all circumstances, but... Nassim Nicolas Taleb fueled me with hubris when he talked about the failure of the "experts")

Anyway...

E=m(ds/dt)2

I think the equation is recognizable even after the speed of light (c) has been generalized as an equation for velocity based on space / time.

The way I see it is that if m>0 then then E must also be >0. (because of the mass energy equivalence). But... imagine if dt=0 at the same time (of course the equation is then unsolvable, but this is a philosophical argument based on a mathematical equation). The only thing that has happened is that E is POTENTIAL energy because it has not begun to change forms and create the 4th dimension.

Edwardo, thanks. That does sound interesting (right up my interests) and I will look at it.

Greenie, he was just sworn in yesterday! Plus, at some level, he will ONLY ever be about talk and no action as he cannot solve our problem (I guess some of us think he can).

His job was only ever to hold the collective bonds together strong enough to get it to cooperate with itself.

In a way, one could describe what we are going through as a kind of 'civil war' fought over zero sum wars between those at all levels of our societal information food chain. He is really just the coach of a team at war with itself.

Cottonbloggin- you have completely lost me. But if you took my comment as either a personal attack on your politics or knowledge base, please accept a genuinely sincere apology. From my point of view I thought I was agreeing with you (but I now realize I misunderstood you).

As for "in any process, the change in energy is non-instantaneous", I am not sure what you are saying other than from what I am taking away I might ask whether you think your idea violates general relativity?

US citizens and the world have expectations that President Obama can never meet - no human could. He has unwisely played up the messianic image (great for getting elected, once elected - not so good). I'm afraid that once reality sets in, the disapointment will turn into anger.

I think that this is the PERFECT place to make the observation that I will proceed to make :

Two nights ago I volunteered my time in the local cultural association that I also personally invest in, washing and wiping the dishes behind the bar.

I did this with another woman who also volunteers her time, and was waiting the tables. A 10 year old girl, a member of the audience ( a private party) volunteered to help take orders and wait on the tables to help.

My friend reported with amusement that the little girl was receiving and pocketing tips for her activity, and all of my co-workers obviously found this fact to be "cute".

In the course of the evening, the little girl asked me for a glass of tap water, and then wanted to know what she owed me. I initially didn't understand her question, so far was she from my personal culture and attitudes.

So... so much for education.Here is education, my friends.Not in our schools.But in the fact that we find little girls waiting on tables and pocketing the change to be "cute".

So...I probably sound very stuffy and moralizing to y'all.I will take my chances.But...You would never catch MY daughter waiting on tables and pocketing the change. No way.

To me, this incident illustrates the fact that while we are prissilly worrying about the fact that our children could be exposed to sex scenes, or violence or whatever (and my God, the U.S. is such a prissy, puritanical country, even when its people are desperately trying to convince themselves and others just how liberated they are...), we are actively teaching them the corruption of all human exchange into signs of dollars and cents, or euros, or pesetas, or what you will.

Such is our education...

And, by the way, I ADORE the Bernstein series. You can get an entire musical education from that series. Too bad that the DVD is incompatible with my European player... Sigh ! So many frustrations for the expats, you can't believe...

Retaking the oath, however, will not answer the multiple questions about Obama's eligibility that have been raised in a long list of lawsuits filed over his election in November.

The lawsuits allege in various ways Obama does not meet the "natural born citizen" clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, which reads, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Some allege his birth took place in Kenya, and his mother was a minor at the time of his birth – too young to confer American citizenship. They argue Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., was a Kenyan citizen subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time and would have handed down British citizenship.

There also are questions raised about Obama's move to Indonesia when he was a child and his attendance at school there when only Indonesian citizens were allowed and his travel to Pakistan in the '80s when such travel was forbidden to American citizens.

"Obama has refused to submit certified copies of any of his original long form 'vault' birth certificates in Hawaii to any public officer or to any Petitioner. Relevant records in Kenya have also been officially restricted," she said. "Obama has sealed all educational records which might reveal his stated citizenship. These include Punahou High School, Occidental College, Columbia University, and Harvard Law School."

Obama has claimed in his autobiography and elsewhere that he was born in Hawaii in 1961 to parents Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Kenyan national, and Stanley Ann Dunham, a minor. But details about which hospital handled the birth and other details provided on the complete birth certificate have been withheld by Obama despite lawsuits and public demands for release.

The biggest question was why, if a Hawaii birth certificate exists as his campaign has stated, Obama hasn't simply ordered it made available to settle the rumors.

The governor's office in Hawaii said there is a valid certificate but rejected requests for access and left ambiguous its origin: Does the certificate on file with the Department of Health indicate a Hawaii birth or was it generated after the Obama family registered a Kenyan birth in Hawaii?

(Lafayette Hill, PA – 01/20/09) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, the Attorney who filed suit against Barack H. Obama challenging Senator Obama’s lack of “qualifications” to serve as President of the United States and his case, Berg vs. Obama, in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is still pending as well as two [2] other cases regarding the question as to whether Obama is constitutionally qualified to be President.Berg stated, “It is a Sad Day for America as Obama is ‘not qualified’ to be President pursuant to ‘our’ United States Constitution. Today, unfortunately, a ‘Usurper,’ Obama, takes the oath of office as President and every law he signs and appointment he makes will be void. It is regretful that Obama has permitted this to happen as he knows he is ‘not natural born’ and this is the greatest ‘Hoax’ ever placed upon the citizens of the United States of America in 230 years.”

You can change settings in your DVD player and can play anything. Most DVD players can play DVD from any country, but the vendors block access so that they can sell DVD players in China for $20 and the same one in US for $200.

Just search google with the make of your player, and you will find the instructions on how to open DVD player.

Thanks for the encouragment, you guys.I'm preening my feathers (for just five minutes, please...)I'm very ignorant about the details of economics, but Hell's blog is helping with my education.When he speaks English, of course...(Just kidding, just kidding...)

As far as Obama's nationality is concerned, I certainly sympathize with him.The "system" is made so that you can spend BIG BUCKS on armies of lawyers to haggle out issues like this one over LONG LONG periods of time.Sigh...Wars have ONE advantage that I can see : they sweep away bureaucracy for a while, at least..Thanks for the tips on the DVD player. Actually, I watch films on my MacIntosh...

I'm glad Obama is president, but I also like mysteries so I'll ponder your claim.

Seems odd that two young college students would have the cash to travel to Kenya. Seems odd that an 18 yr old would want to give birth in a foreign country away from her mother. Did Stanley Ann even have a passport at 18? Have you verified travel to Pakistan wasn't permitted when Obama went? At what age would Obama have been told where he was born and wouldn't he have likely mentioned it to people if it was someplace unique? At what age do you believe he suspected he'd run for president so would need to begin this conspiracy? And wouldn't the Republicans have ripped into this if they even remotely believed it was valid?

Anyhoo, he is undoubtedly the child of an American parent. Maybe his parents didn't get the paperwork completed perfectly, but it seems to nothing more than a clerical issue.

It wasn't two young college students. Obama's father was 23 years old and already had a wife, a child, and another child on the way when he left for Hawaii to study economics.

Obama's father met his mother (18) and had an affair in which President Obama was conceived. They married but Obama's mother, Ann, then demanded to be the first wife and they traveled back to Kenya for his father to divorce the previous wife. Obama Sr refused to divorce his first wife and Ann ended up giving birth to Obama Jr in Kenya. She returned alone and did a late registration in Hawaii (the only state in the union that allows such a thing).

FYI...She also did a late registration for Obama's half sister that was born in Indonesia.

Have I verified travel to Pakistan wasn't permitted when Obama went? Yes. All of this is from Obama's own autobiographies.

"At what age would Obama have been told where he was born and wouldn't he have likely mentioned it to people if it was someplace unique?"

Several of his family members have stated he was born in Kenya and his grandmother swears she was at the birth.

"At what age do you believe he suspected he'd run for president so would need to begin this conspiracy?"

45 or 46. Otherwise he would have left out a lot more detail in his autobiographies.

"And wouldn't the Republicans have ripped into this if they even remotely believed it was valid?"

Possibly...that is unless it was already a predetermined course.

"Anyhoo, he is undoubtedly the child of an American parent. Maybe his parents didn't get the paperwork completed perfectly, but it seems to nothing more than a clerical issue."

Yep, that's the attitude of most people. Who cares about the Constitution anymore? Its such an antiquated piece of paper.

Precisely why we are in the middle of an economic mess on a scale unbeknown in history! Ignorance and cavalier attitudes.

A top economic adviser to President Obama has told a congressional panel the billions of dollars in the proposed economic stimulus plan should be allocated with social issues in mind, to make sure the money doesn't go to just "white male construction workers" or the highly skilled.

Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary under President Clinton, was speaking to the House Steering and Policy Committee Jan. 7 about funding infrastructure projects across the nation.

"It seems to me that infrastructure spending is a very important and good way of stimulating the economy. The challenge will be to do it quickly, to find projects that can be done that will have a high social return, that also can be done with the greatest speed possible," Reich said.

"I am concerned, as I'm sure many of you are, that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers," he said. http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86827

Yophat, you have a point regarding the constitution. But even if you speak the truth (and I am a bit skeptical, though I mean no personal attack on your character), I think the time for its relevance has passed. Our election is our vetting process and the election is over. We settled this issue two elections ago in a morass of hanging chads: possession is 9/10ths of the law.

And while I agree that any additional 'wasted' spending is a tragedy (though Hell seems to have a some faith in it and that does count to me), it is a little like getting frustrated at bumbling the final push to save the football game when the team was already down by 14, every other bad play earlier in the game was really just as significant.

"They married but Obama's mother, Ann, then demanded to be the first wife and they traveled back to Kenya for his father to divorce the previous wife"

The first wife's and child's name? Seems like there would be documentation to support this. And why would she need to go for the divorce? And 23 is still young and likely poor.

How do we know it was a "late registration" if no one has seen the birth certificate?

"45 or 46. Otherwise he would have left out a lot more detail in his autobiographies"

Just so I understand your position correctly, please confirm: O thought he was born in HI until he was 45. He then realized the truth and had his records sealed. Seems like that'd be too late to make the necessary "adjustments".

"Possibly...that is unless it was already a predetermined course"

The Republicans are in on it?

"Ignorance and cavalier attitudes."

Nice. But I'll 'fess up to the ignorant part. So if a pregnant American woman is visiting another country and happens give birth before she returns, that kid can be a US citizen, but can not ever be President?

"Yophat, you have a point regarding the constitution. But even if you speak the truth (and I am a bit skeptical, though I mean no personal attack on your character), I think the time for its relevance has passed. Our election is our vetting process and the election is over. We settled this issue two elections ago in a morass of hanging chads: possession is 9/10ths of the law."

I greatly appreciate the skepticism. Everyone needs to do their own homework such that they know the truth - whatever that may be.

Some simple logic: What is the easiest and most logical way for Obama to dismiss all of this? Release his original "vault" version of his birth certificate to the court....why would you spend a hundred thousand dollars in attorney's fees fighting this all the way to the Supreme Court? Why would you fight to seal the birth certificate so no one else could access it? Why would you seal all of your school records?

If he wasn't a fraud he would have released this information and then countersued for libelous slander.

As for relevance - I think that depends on your personal stance and where you exist in the world.

If you are in the military and you might have to sacrifice your life following an order of someone who committed fraud to obtain that office...that is subject to blackmail and control due to this fraud...maybe its a little more important.

Relevance is a personal issue but yes on a macro scale most people just don't care or the results would be different.

To each his own.

Response to OkieLawyer - Snopes doesn't have a bias? Who owns Snopes.com? Be careful who's answers you accept for the test when you don't do your own homework!

If you are in the military and you might have to sacrifice your life following an order of someone who committed fraud to obtain that office...that is subject to blackmail and control due to this fraud...maybe its a little more important.

Most members of the military (at least those who are overseas) are not naturalized U.S. citizens FWIW.

"If you are in the military and you might have to sacrifice your life following an order of someone who committed fraud to obtain that office."

I am the first person to respect the importance of honesty, integrity, duty and sacrifice, but your argument makes no sense, it's a linear view of a non-linear system as Okie rightfully points out (even if Snopes is the most pro-Obama organization in the world).

Thai, my days of teaching my daughter ANYTHING are finished, and I probably would have done a better job of parenting had I not had it so much to heart to be teaching her...No, that's not really true.What she needs to learn now can't really be taught... just like so so much in life.

Nice. But I'll 'fess up to the ignorant part. So if a pregnant American woman is visiting another country and happens give birth before she returns, that kid can be a US citizen, but can not ever be President?

Um yes...not a "natural born" citizen. Whether its fair or not is not the question.

If we don't like what the founding fathers drafted we always have the means to change it. That phrase hasn't been changed or removed yet - ignored in this case - but still there.

The sweet irony in this particular case is Obama has studied the Constitution extensively and is well aware he is a fraud. He's spent several hundred thousand dollars on his legal team rather then just produce the documentation to stifle multiple lawsuits.

He also lied on the bar application when he declared he has never gone by another name other than Barack Hussein Obama.

When growing up in Indonesia he went by Barry Soetoro. In high school he went by Barry Obama.

About Me

I was educated as a chemical engineer but spent almost my entire career in finance, particularly in money, FX and bond markets. The name stands for Hell-as-IOUs and the picture points to Quixotic endeavors.